Are Birds Nesting in your Hair?

1 I, Paul, myself entreat you, by the meekness and gentleness of Christ—I who am humble when face to face with you, but bold toward you when I am away!— 2 I beg of you that when I am present I may not have to show boldness with such confidence as I count on showing against some who suspect us of walking according to the flesh. 3 For though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh. 4 For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds. 5 We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ, 6 being ready to punish every disobedience, when your obedience is complete. (2 Corinthians 10:1-6 ESV)

I have learned to view my own struggles, my circumstances, my failures, and my frustrations as God showing me not only what is wrong in my heart that is in dire need of His cleansing grace, but also as learning experiences from which to teach. Over the last few days I have become disconsolate borne from impatience with nearly everyone. I have gone from the mountaintop a few days ago to some serious frustration and impatience. It seems the more I want to write these posts the less time I have to do so. The time pressures on my window of opportunity to research, pray, and write has shrunk it to half the size I have become used to. As a result, I have found myself becoming very angry. This anger has simmered to the point that it has caused me to show some signs of growing bitterness. That really got my attention. Why was this happening? What is God showing me? What is it that I have missed in this walk that would keep this from happening.?

Over the last year I have become very grateful to God for preserving the writings of Martin Luther and the other reformers as well as the Puritans. But, God has used Martin Luther to speak the most to my heart. His writing style is not scholarly at all. It seem as if he was writing whatever he wrote for the common man. This morning I read one of his devotions that the Lord used to show me exactly what was causing my anger problem. I pray that God will use this to speak to your heart as well.

Controlling your Thoughts

by Martin Luther from Faith Alone – A Daily Devotional

7 Then Jacob was greatly afraid and distressed. He divided the people who were with him, and the flocks and herds and camels, into two camps, (Genesis 32:7 ESV)

While Jacob was on his way to be reunited with his brother, Esau, he was plagued with doubts. He learned that Esau was wealthy and had a large family. He thought, “What if God has changed his mind? Maybe God has rejected me in favor of my brother.” These were Jacob’s thoughts. but they remained just that–thoughts. Because of human nature and weak faith, people can’t keep from having these kinds of thoughts any more than they can avoid other emotions, such as impatience, anger, and lust. You can’t keep thoughts and temptations from coming into your head. Just don’t let these thoughts become fixed in your mind so that they begin to affect your judgment.

You should follow the advice of a hermit who was approached by a young man complaining of having lustful thoughts and other temptations. The old man told him, “You can’t stop the birds from flying over your head, but only let them fly. Don’t let them nest in your hair.” It’s all right to have these thoughts, but let them remain just that–thoughts. Don’t let them grow to the point where you have to act on these thoughts.

This was the problem that led to despair in the lives of Cain, Saul, Judas, and others. They let their thoughts grow and grow until they were saying, “My punishment is more than I can bear” (Genesis 4:13), or “I have sinned,… for I have betrayed innocent blood” (Matthew 27:4). When they did this, their temptation was turned into a judgment because they rejected the Word of God, faith, and prayer. But in spite of the many thoughts and severe temptations that Jacob experienced that night, he didn’t throw his faith away.

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16 thoughts on “Are Birds Nesting in your Hair?”

Not only am I thankful for your wonderful articles and your books, for they truly are a blessing and provide great aid in my walk, but please know that I greatly appreciate the time you put in “Possessing the Treasure”…answering/commenting to your readers. I am sure I speak for all of them when I express my thankfulness. I do not have to question that the Lord will bless you – I know that He has and will continue to bless you!

Mike:
Thank you for this convicting post. I struggle against anger and the past weeks I have found myself giving into it. I know the roots are discontent, bitterness and deep frustration. I appeciate that I am not alone in the battle and am grateful for your willingness to share. Last night I was ready to just give up. But I know there is forgiveness through Christ. Thanks for your timely encouragement. Wendy

Thank you both for the encouragement. It means more to me than you know. I am truly blessed by God. I pray that I will keep my eyes and thoughts focused on Christ as I try to run this race. When we get distracted we dwell on our fleshly thoughts and then we stumble and fall out of the race. Very frustrating. However, the conviction that comes with this is a very good thing. It causes us to cry out to God, seek His face and move forward in our repentance. O teach us how to kill our sin O Lord!

Mike,
I thank the Lord for His patience with me. The many times I have struggled with sin, He never gives up. Thank you for always being honest in the things you struggle with. I admire more a person that can point the finger at himself then a person that always points his finger at others. It’s called humility.

Your thoughts on temptation and the cross over to sin is an interesting one…I hope you don’t mind but I was asking the same question on my blog a little while ago in regards to homosexuality. Asking the question, “at what point does the temptation turn to lust and sin?” this question was brought up in the “comments” part of the following post.

No, I don’t mind one bit. Our falling into these sins follows a pattern. They are borne from our hearts and become those thoughts, then we dwell on them until they give birth into full blown sin and rebellion. Thanks for the link.

It is hard to control one’s thoughts! Sometimes I get mired down with my own thoughts about what people are thinking about me because of their action toward me. Their actions very well could be innocent but I have turned it into something else because of the junk in my head. Renewing my mind in the Bible “keeps birds from nesting in my mind”.

As A pastor I know both the challenges of managing time, and meeting needs, and the frustrations that come from expectations. They indeed can lead to all kinds of vile thoughts. Luthers words are fully appropriate.

What has gotten me through lately, is to look through this slew of despond, and pit of dispair, to God’s glory. His beauty and fulless in Christ, and to wait on Him, until my change comes. And it usually does.

“For though this outward man perisheth, the inward man is renewd day by day.”

It keeps us looking to the one who loved us and gave himself for us, and to work confidently from that view! Isa 40:31

This struggle is common to us all who are serious about our devotion, service and walk before the Lord. I think God had be struggle this week so I could write this because it has struck a chord with many of God’s devout followers.

Most of the posts I write come from inspiration from God that is tangible. With that the words come easily from my hand. But there are those times when I feel nothing and writing seem like a labor. It is those times when I feel my faith is tested the hardest.

Yes, that describes how I write as well. I have written some posts while in the slough of despond or the valley of humiliation that were extremely tough to even get started. However, those are the ones I write that seem to me as some sort of Soul purge thing that no one will care to read. It is amazing to me that some of those posts were the ones the hit chords with people in a way that I could never imagine.

I pray that God will be glorified in me and then I expect Him to keep me in some sort of spiritual state in which it just flows. Not! That is actually very rare. Most of the time I write from the heart as I pray for direction and inspiration because I am in such a stressed out state that there is no way I can do anything but trust that He will do it.

Catching my thoughts are exactly like trying to catch a flock of swift little flitty birds! They have ahold of me before I know it. I’m entertaining them before I remember I should be examining them and casting out thoughts that are based in fear and pride. Hear is a prayer. “Dear Jesus, give me a new view of Yourself that I have not seen, to set my gaze upon. Grant me the grace to discipline myself to the point of taking every thought captive to You. I am far off from this discipline Lord, and I lazily squat before it. When I get discouraged and think it’s impossible, please teach me how to do it and give me patience & tenacity, I pray; so as to gain the territory of this soul for Your Kingdom purpose. Amen. “

Therefore, I urge you brothers through the compassions of God to present your bodies as living, holy sacrifices, well pleasing to God, which is your spiritual service. And do not be conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind that you may discern the will of God, that which is good and well pleasing and perfect.

Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I am filling up what is lacking in Christ's afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church, of which I became a minister according to the stewardship from God that was given to me for you, to make the word of God fully known, the mystery hidden for ages and generations but now revealed to his saints. (Colossians 1:24-26 ESV)

The way of escape

"To believe that He will preserve us is, indeed, a means of preservation. God will certainly preserve us, and make a way of escape for us out of the temptation, should we fall. We are to pray for what God has already promised. Our requests are to be regulated by His promises and commands. Faith embraces the promises and so finds relief." - John Owen

How to be free from bondage to our flesh and temptation

"If we do not abide in prayer, we will abide in temptation. Let this be one aspect of our daily intercession: 'God, preserve my soul, and keep my heart and all its ways so that I will not be entangled.' When this is true in our lives, a passing temptation will not overcome us. We will remain free while others lie in bondage." - John Owen

Meta

About me

My name is Mike Ratliff. I am a δοῦλος (slave) of the Κύριον ᾿Ιησοῦν Χριστόν (Lord Jesus Christ.) I have been a Bible teacher since the late 1980's. I am currently learning Koine Greek, which I began in 1992 and will continue to do so until the Lord takes me home. I am Reformed in my theology because I recognize that God is Sovereign over all things. I write these posts as God directs. I am also part of the discernment team at Christian Research Network.

OTHERS MAY, YOU CANNOT

by G. D. Watson

If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. Matthew 16:24-25

If God has called you to be truly like Jesus in all your spirit, He will draw you into a life of crucifixion and humility. He will put on you such demands of obedience that you will not be allowed to follow other Christians. In many ways, He seems to let other good people do things which He will not let you do.

Others who seem to be very religious and useful may push themselves, pull wires, and scheme to carry out their plans, but you cannot. If you attempt it, you will meet with such failure and rebuke from the Lord as to make you sorely penitent.

Others can brag about themselves, their work, their successes, their writings, but the Holy Spirit will not allow you to do any such thing. If you begin to do so, He will lead you into some deep mortification that will make you despise yourself and all your good works.

Others will be allowed to succeed in making great sums of money, or having a legacy left to them, or in having luxuries, but God may supply you only on a day-to-day basis, because He wants you to have something far better than gold, a helpless dependence on Him and His unseen treasury.

The Lord may let others be honored and put forward while keeping you hidden in obscurity because He wants to produce some choice, fragrant fruit for His coming glory, which can only be produced in the shade.

God may let others be great, but keep you small. He will let others do a work for Him and get the credit, but He will make you work and toil without knowing how much you are doing. Then, to make your work still more precious, He will let others get the credit for the work which you have done; this to teach you the message of the Cross, humility, and something of the value of being cloaked with His nature.

The Holy Spirit will put a strict watch on you, and with a jealous love rebuke you for careless words and feelings, or for wasting your time, which other Christians never seem distressed over.

So make up your mind that God is an infinite Sovereign and has a right to do as He pleases with His own, and that He may not explain to you a thousand things which may puzzle your reason in His dealings with you.

God will take you at your word. If you absolutely sell yourself to be His slave, He will wrap you up in a jealous love and let other people say and do many things that you cannot. Settle it forever; you are to deal directly with the Holy Spirit, He is to have the privilege of tying your tongue or chaining your hand or closing your eyes in ways which others are not dealt with. However, know this great secret of the Kingdom: When you are so completely possessed with the Living God that you are, in your secret heart, pleased and delighted over this peculiar, personal, private, jealous guardianship and management of the Holy Spirit over your life, you will have found the vestibule of heaven, the high calling of God.